A 25-year-old North Carolina man has been sentenced to five years behind bars for his part in a hacking campaign which leaked the details of senior US officials and intimidated them and their families.
Justin Liverman, 25, of Morehead City, pleaded guilty in January to being a part of the “Crackas with Attitude” online collective which targeted then-CIA director John Brennan and national intelligence director James Clapper, as well as former FBI deputy director Mark Giuliano, among others.
Also known online as ‘D3F4ULT’, Liverman didn’t personally carry out any of the attacks on the officials’ law enforcement accounts, leaving that to British hacker “Cracka”, according to reports.
However, the five-year sentence is apparently the maximum possible for conspiracy to commit offenses against the US. These include conspiracy to carry out unauthorized computer intrusions, identity theft, and telephone harassment.
A DoJ notice claimed the conspiracy targeted 10 victims and caused more than $1.5m in losses for them.
It explained:
“Liverman publicly posted online documents and personal information unlawfully obtained from a victim’s personal account; sent threatening text messages to the same victim’s cellphone; and paid an unlawful ‘phonebombing’ service to call the victim repeatedly with a threatening message. In November 2015, the conspiracy used that victim's government credentials to gain unlawful access to a confidential federal law enforcement database, where Liverman obtained information relating to dozens of law enforcement officers and uploaded this information to a public website.”
Judge Bruce Lee described the acts as “despicable” in his sentencing on Friday, adding “these are no pranks.”
“This computer hacking, Crackas With Attitude, caused chaos. Your intent was clear, and that was to wreak havoc,” he’s reported as saying.
Liverman will pay around $145,000 in restitution. His co-conspirator Andrew Otto Boggs, 23, of North Wilkesboro, was sentenced back in June to two years behind bars, and has agreed to pay just over $100,000.